Australian Uranium Mining Company Accused of Contaminating Lake Malawi by Mayu Chang, CorpWatch BlogJanuary 28th, 2015Paladin Energy, an Australian mining company, has been accused of discharging uranium-contaminated sludge into Lake Malawi, which supports 1.7 million people in three countries – Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The company began uranium mining operations in Malawi in 2009 although it suspended operations last year after ore prices fell.

U.S. Attorneys General Form Secret Alliance To Help Energy Companiesby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogDecember 8th, 2014Major energy companies have effectively created a secret law firm of conservative attorneys general to persuade Washington lawmakers to gut environmental regulations, according to an investigation by the New York Times. In return, these senior government officials have received millions of dollars to help them win political campaigns.

Adani Gets Billion Dollar Loan for Australian Mega Coal Projectby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogNovember 26th, 2014Adani Enterprises has been offered a $1 billion loan by the State Bank of India to support a mega coal mining project in the Galilee basin in central Queensland, Australia. Environmentalists say that the accompanying industrialization is likely to severely impact the Great Barrier Reef, 400 kilometres away.

Tanzanian Officials Arrested For Failure to Publish Natural Gas Contract Detailsby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogNovember 7th, 2014Two senior Tanzanian officials were arrested after they failed to produce details of 26 multi-billion dollar agreements signed with Statoil of Norway; the BG Group and Ophir from the UK; and ExxonMobil from the U.S. Opposition politicians want assurances that the money will be spent in a transparent manner.

Chevron Wins Ecuador Arbitration But Money May Go To Amazon Communitiesby Mayu Chang, CorpWatch BlogOctober 13th, 2014The Dutch Supreme Court recently upheld an arbitration tribunal judgment requiring the Ecuadorean government to pay Chevron $106 million for breach of contract. Ironically, activists say Ecuador is now free to hand this money to indigenous communities who have sued the oil giant for pollution in an unrelated case.

Pipeline Leaks in Caspian Sea Oil Project To Cost $4 Billionby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogOctober 9th, 2014Kashagan, Kazakhstan's flagship offshore oil project in the Caspian Sea, will need to spend some $4 billion to repair 200 kilometres of pipelines that are leaking corrosive sulphur-containing gas, according to new estimates. The reports confirm long standing fears of environmental organizations and the local community.

Kosmos Energy Prepares to Drill for Oil in Disputed Western Saharaby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogSeptember 19th, 2014Kosmos Energy, a Texas oil company, is preparing to drill for oil in Western Sahara, a disputed territory currently controlled by Morocco. The company has dispatched a state of the art oil rig to begin operations later this year, according to Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW), an activist group.

“Operation Car Wash” Uncovers Alleged Political Bribery by Petrobrasby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogSeptember 9th, 2014Paulo Roberto Costa, former head of Petrobras' refining and supply unit, has named dozens of politicians who allegedly took bribes from the Brazilian company. Costa claims that Petrobras paid out three percent of the value of new contracts to the politicians in return for favorable votes for the government.

Chevron Cancels Bulgaria Fracking, Shell Postpones Ukraine Plans
by Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogJune 12th, 2014Fracking for oil and gas across Europe has suffered a series of setbacks with Chevron closing its offices in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Shell postponing fracking plans in the Ukraine by at least two years. Meanwhile the French government is standing firm in its opposition to fracking.

Sinopec Fracking In China Turns Deadlyby Fatima Hansia, CorpWatch BlogApril 24th, 2014A deadly explosion in Jiaoshizhen, Sichuan province, has raised concerns about the risks involved in hydraulic fracking in China. The explosion occurred at a facility operated by Sinopec – one of China’s biggest oil and gas companies – that is being advised by Breitling Energy, a Dallas-based company.

Fracking Siberia: Gazprom Teams Up With Shellby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogFebruary 25th, 2014Gazprom of Russia has begun fracking in western Siberia with the help of Anglo-Dutch giant Shell. The joint venture is introducing new technology developed in the U.S. to tap a vast reserve of oil known as the Bazhenov shale that lies under a 2.3 million square kilometer expanse.

Keystone XL Review Biased and Deeply Flawed, Say Activistsby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogFebruary 14th, 2014A major U.S. government report on the Keystone XL pipeline was written by oil industry consultants, say activist groups. The report, which was commissioned by the State Department and published two weeks ago, downplays the environmental impact of the pipeline and has been seen as key to potential approval.

Rurelec Wins Compensation for Bolivia Nationalization, But Little Profitby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogFebruary 10th, 2014Bolivia has been ordered to pay $41 million to Rurelec, a UK energy company, in compensation for nationalizing the Guaracachi power plant in May 2010. The order represents a small profit for Rurelec which bought a 50.1 percent stake in 2006 but substantially less than what the company demanded.

Shell Arctic Drilling Plans Blocked By Courtsby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogJanuary 23rd, 2014Shell’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea have been handed a major setback by a U.S appeals court which ruled that the Department of the Interior had underestimated the potential environment impact. The courts ordered the federal government to do a new assessment.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Admits Fukushima Failuresby Richard Smallteacher, CorpWatch BlogAugust 28th, 2013Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) is facing calls to be shut down for failing to properly manage the environmental catastrophe caused by the meltdown of three of the company’s nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan. The disaster was the result of a tsunami triggered by a March 2011 earthquake.

Tabasará River Communities Struggle to Halt Panamanian Dam Projectby Jennifer Kennedy, Special to CorpWatchAugust 10th, 2013Honduran owned Generadora del Istmo S.A. (GENISA) is almost done with building Barro Blanco- a 28.84 megawatt hydroelectric project - on the Tabasará river in Chiriqui province in western Panama. The indigenous Ngäbe-Buglé community says that the impact of this project on their livelihoods will be devastating.

Commodity Scams: Barclays, Goldman & JP Morgan Under Fire
by Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogJuly 23rd, 2013JP Morgan Chase is expected to announce over $600 million in penalties and repayments for allegedly cheating customers in energy markets in California and Michigan. This just after Barclays bank paid out $470 million for manipulating electricity rates. Now Goldman Sachs is under scrutiny for possibly manipulating aluminum prices.

BP Goes on Trial for Deepwater Horizon Explosionby Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch BlogMarch 2nd, 2013BP, the UK oil company, went on trial this week for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The company could be fined up to $30 billion over the $25 billion it has promised if the court finds that it was "grossly negligent.”

Tar Sands Activist Interrupts Texas Oil & Gas Conferenceby Puck Lo, CorpWatch BlogJanuary 31st, 2013A climate change activist locked himself to a projector screen at an oil and gas conference in Texas today interrupting a TransCanada executive who was making a presentation on a pipeline from Alberta to the U.S. Instead 300 astonished attendees heard an impassioned presentation about TransCanada’s poor safety record.